| (a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) Construction and/or extension--Shall not include
the purchase or condemnation of real property for use as facility
sites or right-of-way. Acquisition of right-of-way shall not be deemed
to entitle an electric utility to the grant of a certificate of convenience
and necessity without showing that the construction and/or extension
is necessary for the service, accommodation, convenience, or safety
of the public.
(2) Generating unit--Any electric generating facility.
This section does not apply to any generating unit that is less than
ten megawatts and is built for experimental purposes only.
(3) Habitable structures--Structures normally inhabited
by humans or intended to be inhabited by humans on a daily or regular
basis. Habitable structures include, but are not limited to: single-family
and multi-family dwellings and related structures, mobile homes, apartment
buildings, commercial structures, industrial structures, business
structures, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, and schools.
(4) Municipal Power Agency (MPA)--Agency or group created
under Texas Utilities Code, Chapter 163 - Joint Powers Agencies.
(5) Municipal Public Entity (MPE)--A municipally owned
utility (MOU) or a municipal power agency.
(6) Prudent avoidance--The limiting of exposures to
electric and magnetic fields that can be avoided with reasonable investments
of money and effort.
(7) Tie line--A facility to be interconnected to the
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) transmission grid by
a person, including an electric utility or MPE, that would enable
additional power to be imported into or exported out of the ERCOT
power grid.
(b) Certificates of convenience and necessity for new
service areas and facilities. Except for certificates granted under
subsection (e) of this section, the commission may grant an application
and issue a certificate only if it finds that the certificate is necessary
for the service, accommodation, convenience, or safety of the public,
and complies with the statutory requirements in the Public Utility
Regulatory Act (PURA) §37.056. The commission may issue a certificate
as applied for, or refuse to issue it, or issue it for the construction
of a portion of the contemplated system or facility or extension thereof,
or for the partial exercise only of the right or privilege. The commission
shall render a decision approving or denying an application for a
certificate within one year of the date of filing of a complete application
for such a certificate, unless good cause is shown for exceeding that
period. A certificate, or certificate amendment, is required for the
following:
(1) Change in service area. Any certificate granted
under this section shall not be construed to vest exclusive service
or property rights in and to the area certificated.
(A) Uncontested applications: An application for a
certificate under this paragraph shall be approved administratively
within 80 days from the date of filing a complete application if:
(i) no motion to intervene has been filed or the application
is uncontested;
(ii) all owners of land that is affected by the change
in service area and all customers in the service area being changed
have been given direct mail notice of the application; and
(iii) commission staff has determined that the application
is complete and meets all applicable statutory criteria and filing
requirements, including, but not limited to, the provision of proper
notice of the application.
(B) Minor boundary changes or service area exceptions:
Applications for minor boundary changes or service area exceptions
shall be approved administratively within 45 days of the filing of
the application provided that:
(i) every utility whose certificated service area is
affected agrees to the change;
(ii) all customers within the affected area have given
prior consent; and
(iii) commission staff has determined that the application
is complete and meets all applicable statutory criteria and filing
requirements, including, but not limited to, the provision of proper
notice of the application.
(2) Generation facility.
(A) In a proceeding involving the purchase of an existing
electric generating facility by an electric utility that operates
solely outside of ERCOT, the commission shall issue a final order
on a certificate for the facility not later than the 181st day after
the date a request for the certificate is filed with the commission
under PURA §37.058(b).
(B) In a proceeding involving a newly constructed generating
facility by an electric utility that operates solely outside of ERCOT,
the commission shall issue a final order on a certificate for the
facility not later than the 366th day after the date a request for
the certificate is filed with the commission under PURA §37.058(b).
(3) Electric transmission line. All new electric transmission
lines shall be reported to the commission in accordance with §25.83
of this title (relating to Transmission Construction Reports). This
reporting requirement is also applicable to new electric transmission
lines to be constructed by an MPE seeking to directly or indirectly
construct, install, or extend a transmission facility outside of its
applicable boundaries. For an MOU, the applicable boundaries are the
municipal boundaries of the municipality that owns the MOU. For an
MPA, the applicable boundaries are the municipal boundaries of the
public entities participating in the MPA.
(A) Need:
(i) Except as stated below, the following must be met
for a transmission line in the ERCOT power region. The applicant must
present an economic cost-benefit study that includes an analysis that
shows that the levelized ERCOT-wide annual production cost savings
attributable to the proposed project are equal to or greater than
the first-year annual revenue requirement of the proposed project
of which the transmission line is a part. Indirect costs and benefits
to the transmission system may be included in the cost-benefit study.
The commission shall give great weight to such a study if it is conducted
by the ERCOT independent system operator. This requirement also does
not apply to an application for a transmission line that is necessary
to meet state or federal reliability standards, including: a transmission
line needed to interconnect a transmission service customer or end-use
customer; or needed due to the requirements of any federal, state,
county, or municipal government body or agency for purposes including,
but not limited to, highway transportation, airport construction,
public safety, or air or water quality.
(ii) For a transmission line not addressed by clause
(i) of this subparagraph, the commission shall consider among other
factors, the needs of the interconnected transmission systems to support
a reliable and adequate network and to facilitate robust wholesale
competition. The commission shall give great weight to:
(I) the recommendation of an organization that meets
the requirement of PURA §39.151; and/or
(II) written documentation that the transmission line
is needed to interconnect a transmission service customer or an end-use
customer.
(B) Routing: An application for a new transmission
line shall address the criteria in PURA §37.056(c) and considering
those criteria, engineering constraints, and costs, the line shall
be routed to the extent reasonable to moderate the impact on the affected
community and landowners unless grid reliability and security dictate
otherwise. The following factors shall be considered in the selection
of the utility's alternative routes unless a route is agreed to by
the utility, the landowners whose property is crossed by the proposed
line, and owners of land that contains a habitable structure within
300 feet of the centerline of a transmission project of 230 kV or
less, or within 500 feet of the centerline of a transmission project
greater than 230 kV, and otherwise conforms to the criteria in PURA §37.056(c):
(i) whether the routes parallel or utilize existing
compatible rights-of-way for electric facilities, including the use
of vacant positions on existing multiple-circuit transmission lines;
(ii) whether the routes parallel or utilize other existing
compatible rights-of-way, including roads, highways, railroads, or
telephone utility rights-of-way;
(iii) whether the routes parallel property lines or
other natural or cultural features; and
(iv) whether the routes conform with the policy of
prudent avoidance.
(C) Uncontested transmission lines: An application
for a certificate for a transmission line shall be approved administratively
within 80 days from the date of filing a complete application if:
(i) no motion to intervene has been filed or the application
is uncontested; and
(ii) commission staff has determined that the application
is complete and meets all applicable statutory criteria and filing
requirements, including, but not limited to, the provision of proper
notice of the application.
(D) Projects deemed critical to reliability. Applications
for transmission lines which have been formally designated by a PURA §39.151
organization as critical to the reliability of the system shall be
considered by the commission on an expedited basis. The commission
shall render a decision approving or denying an application for a
certificate under this subparagraph within 180 days of the date of
filing a complete application for such a certificate unless good cause
is shown for extending that period.
(4) Tie line. An application for a tie line must include
a study of the tie line by the ERCOT independent system operator.
The study shall include, at a minimum, an ERCOT-approved reliability
assessment of the proposed tie line. If an independent system operator
intends to conduct a study to evaluate a proposed tie line or intends
to provide confidential information to another entity to permit the
study of a proposed tie line, the independent system operator shall
file notice with the commission at least 45 days prior to the commencement
of such a study or the provision of such information. This paragraph
does not apply to a facility that is in service on December 31, 2014.
(c) Projects or activities not requiring a certificate.
A certificate, or certificate amendment, is not required for the following:
(1) A contiguous extension of those facilities described
in PURA §37.052;
(2) A new electric high voltage switching station,
or substation;
(3) The repair or reconstruction of a transmission
facility due to emergencies. The repair or reconstruction of a transmission
facility due to emergencies shall proceed without delay or prior approval
of the commission and shall be reported to the commission in accordance
with §25.83 of this title;
(4) The construction or upgrading of distribution facilities
within the electric utility's service area;
(5) Routine activities associated with transmission
facilities that are conducted by transmission service providers. Nothing
contained in the following subparagraphs should be construed as a
limitation of the commission's authority as set forth in PURA. Any
activity described in the following subparagraphs shall be reported
to the commission in accordance with §25.83 of this title. The
commission may require additional facts or call a public hearing thereon
to determine whether a certificate of convenience and necessity is
required. Routine activities are defined as follows:
(A) The modification or extension of an existing transmission
line solely to provide service to a substation or metering point provided
that:
(i) an extension to a substation or metering point
does not exceed one mile; and
(ii) all landowners whose property is crossed by the
transmission facilities have given prior written consent.
(B) The rebuilding, replacement, or respacing of structures
along an existing route of the transmission line; upgrading to a higher
voltage not greater than 230 kV; bundling of conductors or reconductoring
of an existing transmission facility, provided that:
(i) no additional right-of-way is required; or
(ii) if additional right-of-way is required, all landowners
of property crossed by the electric facilities have given prior written
consent.
(C) The installation, on an existing transmission line,
of an additional circuit not previously certificated, provided that:
(i) the additional circuit is not greater than 230
kV; and
(ii) all landowners whose property is crossed by the
transmission facilities have given prior written consent.
(D) The relocation of all or part of an existing transmission
facility due to a request for relocation, provided that:
(i) the relocation is to be done at the expense of
the requesting party; and
(ii) the relocation is solely on a right-of-way provided
by the requesting party.
(E) The relocation or alteration of all or part of
an existing transmission facility to avoid or eliminate existing or
impending encroachments, provided that all landowners of property
crossed by the electric facilities have given prior written consent.
Cont'd... |
